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NRL: New-look Warriors Halves Emerge From Shaun Johnson's Shadow
Grant Chapman, Digital Sports Journalist
Under intense scrutiny entering the 2025 NRL campaign, NZ Warriors halves are doing everything they can to shrug off the doubters.
The Auckland outfit faced a massive void after the retirement of club pointscoring recordholder Shaun Johnson at the end of last season, and have opened their account with Luke Metcalf at halfback and Chanel Harris-Tavita at five-eighth.
That untried combination guided the Warriors to a 36-10 pre-season romp over Melbourne Storm, convincing coach Andrew Webster to persevere with the duo into the regular season.
Lurking in the wings is Te Maire Martin, who played five-eighth for North Queensland Cowboys in an NRL Grand Final and is dominating in NSW Cup reserve grade.
An erratic outing in the Las Vegas season-opener further turned the screws, but since then, Metcalf and Harris-Tavita have come up trumps in home victories over Manly Sea Eagles and Sydney Roosters.
Metcalf starred against Manly, with a faultless kicking performance off the tee, two try assists and a try of his own on fulltime to cap the night.
Seven days later, Harris-Tavita provided the game-turning play against the Roosters, when he chipped a kick towards the tryline and won the aerial contest to crash over for an 8-6 lead.
Afterwards, Webster described it as a "oh no, oh yes" moment.
"When I kicked it, I just wanted to catch it, and I was lucky the tryline was right there and I just fell straight over," Harris-Tavita reflected.
"I put the kick up in front of me, so I thought I would compete for it - we needed a try at the time.
"There were lots of moments that people don't see during the game that lead into moments that lots of people talk about."
"Our middles did a great of staying in the arm-wrestle with the massive forward pack that the Roosters had. Keeping them in their half was a credit to our middles."
The Metcalf/Harris-Tavita partnership will roll out for their fourth appearance against Wests Tigers on Sunday and their confidence seems to grow with each game.
"It's building," Harris-Tavita insisted.
"It will take a long time to get a lot of fluency in the way we want to play as halves.
"The thing about our system is it's not reliant on one player and anyone that comes in should be able to do the job. There are other people knocking on the door as well.
"For us, it's knowing what our strengths are, leaning towards those and continuing to improve every week.
"It's hard to say how long it will take, but lots of the great halves pairings have taken a season or two to really hit their straps. As long as we narrow our focus each week, we'll keep getting better."
Their job just became a little tougher, with the sudden departure of bench utility Dylan Walker, whose ballplaying ability among the forwards was credited with taking a load off his young halves.
"Our halfbacks will have to step up and touch the footy more, as they won't have Dylan bringing them onto the footy, but we've got some young guys who can pass the footy and they have a big opportunity to do that," Webster confirmed.
Harris-Tavita, 25, is no stranger to the spotlight, debuting for the Warriors six years ago, but stepping away after losing his passion for the game following the 2022 season.
He spent much of next 12 months wandering the globe, before rekindling his love for rugby league and returning to the club last year.
"It's a high-pressure situation," he said.
"When times are tough in the game, your middles look to you for directions, because sometimes they're in the washing machine and don't know what's going on.
"You need to have that clarity around your role and you also have to execute it. To do that, week in and week out, in one of the hardest competitions in the world is pretty tough, but it's rewarding when you get it right.
"When I came back to the Warriors, I wanted to play in the halves. I want to play in that position long term and I'm willing to put in the work to put my hand up for that position."
When Harris-Tavita first entered the Warriors squad as a teenager, he was viewed as a long-term replacement for Johnson, who had fallen out with then-coach Stephen Kearney and departed for Cronulla Sharks.
He had a chance to play one season alongside the club legend, before his retirement.
The team often lived and died by Johnson's performances - and especially his health - but his exit has seen a change in approach.
"He's a real good person to have around, not just on the field, but off the field, he's great value," Harris-Tavita said.
"We still catch up with him when we can, but we're playing the game a little bit different - we don't have that dominant halfback.
"We're trying to share the role and take pressure off each other, because that fits our strengths.
"If we ever need anything, me and 'Met' will talk to him [Johnson], and he'll give us advice. He played the game for a long time and has a lot of experience, so he knows a thing or two, and we'll go to him."
RNZ
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